EVERY year despite their very busy schedule, the team from Marco Polo Hong Kong Hotels makes time to visit Manila, Davao and Cebu and reconnect with media partners and friends from each city. This year, communications director Samantha Poon joined us together with MPHK group hotel manager Dalip Singh at the Blu Bar and Grill at the very top of Marco Polo Plaza Cebu.
I had to ask what vitamins Mr. Singh and Ms. Poon are on, as despite a rather tight itinerary for their tri-city tour, both were happy to see us and energetically gave us some updates on the three Marco Polo properties in Hong Kong’s glittering Canton Road. Exciting renovations are taking place in some of the already upscale hotel rooms, many of which offer a breathtaking view of the iconic Victoria Harbour. The hotels are also connected to Harbour City, which with several hundred boutiques at different price points and dozens of food outlets, can satisfy any food trip or hankering for retail therapy without having to exit the complex.
Dinner that evening was decidedly French, starting with huitre chaudes or seared oysters with champagne crème fraiche and caviar, foie de canard or duck liver with macerated strawberries on French toast, and Coquille St. Jacques or assorted shellfish with mornay sauce. A choice of pork or veal medallion tenderloin was followed by a cheese course with quince jelly, and finally with a lovely flan de maroons de collabrieres with baked chestnut cream and Mandarin sorbet.
The long table seating about 20 guests was elegantly set, but the vibe among media partners who have become the hotel’s friends was certainly more social than formal. Our friendship over the years has remained steadfast through tropical hurricanes and political storms. Hong Kong might be a three-hour international flight away, but as our friends from Marco Polo Hong Kong know, being miles apart certainly doesn’t mean we are far at heart.